It is good that someone is standing up to the Chicago style politics and corruption of this administration.
All posts by Chuck Norton
Half of Florida high school students fail reading test
Teach the test and don’t really educate…. it doesn’t work.
And in Indiana, the basic skills tests have gotten easier since I was in grade school, not harder. I have a hard time believing that other states really behaved differently considering how powerful teacher’s unions are.
MIAMI (Reuters) – Nearly half of Florida high school students failed the reading portion of the state’s new toughened standardized test, education officials said on Friday.
Results this year from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test showed 52 percent of freshman students and 50 percent of sophomores scored at their grade levels.
Students in the 10th grade must pass the exam in order to eventually graduate but can retake it if they fail.
The results came days after the Florida State Board of Education voted to lower the standards needed to pass the writing part of the test, known as FCAT. The test is administered in public elementary, middle and high schools.
The board took the action in an emergency meeting when preliminary results indicated only about one-third of Florida students would have passed this year.
“We are asking more from our students and teachers than we ever have, and I am proud of their hard work,” Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson said in a statement.
“As Florida transitions to higher standards and higher expectations, we can expect our assessment results to reflect those changes.”
Firms go outside Michigan to fill IT jobs….
Such nonsense. The excuse is that there is no local talent, but what they want to do is fly in people from India, cram them in cheap apartments and pay them $8.50 an hour.
When I worked IT for Hewlett Packard I watched this happen. American workers who were doing the job just fine became no longer qualified. I have seen seminars put on by legal consultants in how to make like you are looking for Americans to fill the jobs so they can fool the government into letting them import people from India.
They cite talent shortage while some workers with tech skills can’t find jobs
Thousands of high-paying IT jobs are expected to be created in Detroit over the next few years, but employers already are having trouble filling them.
Online mortgage company Quicken Loans Inc., looking to fill more than 300 information technology positions, has taken its search outside Michigan to find qualified candidates. The Detroit-based company recently launched a website aimed at recruiting laid-off Yahoo workers.
GalaxE.Solutions, a project management firm known for its “Outsource to Detroit” banner on its Woodward Avenue building, has stumbled trying to fill 500 IT jobs.
“There is a shortage nationwide of good IT talent,” said Ryan Hoyle, director of global recruiting for GalaxE, which has 150 IT workers in Detroit and hopes to add 350 in the next few years. “There just aren’t a lot of top students going into IT.”
Computer systems analysts, network systems and data communications analysts, computer software engineers, and network and computer systems administrators are among the “Hot 50” jobs in Michigan through 2018, according to the state’s Bureau of Labor Market Information & Strategic Initiatives.
Those jobs pay an average hourly wage of $31 or more.
Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corp., a global market intelligence firm, predicts that 12,500 IT jobs could be created in Detroit by 2015.
At the same time, there are countless workers who have IT experience but cannot find a job in a field that often requires specific skill sets.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120514/TECHNOLOGY/205140341#ixzz1vHTNmFOJ
mm
Rush Limbaugh inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians
Video: NC Non-Citizens Voting, Dead Offered Ballots, UNC Officials Embrace Voter Fraud
James O’Keefe strikes again!
MITCH DANIELS: TOLL ROAD MYTH AND TRUTH
Governor Mitch Daniels:
Myth: We sold a state asset.
Truth: We didn’t sell anything to anyone. The state still owns the Toll Road and always will. It is merely being operated under contract, strictly regulated as to prices and service levels, just as many public utilities are across the state. The contract provides for more lanes, electronic tolling, more State Police coverage, better facilities and service than political management delivered. If the contract’s performance standards are not met, the state can cancel the lease and resume direct management.
In fact, this myth has it exactly backwards. Because of the transaction, Indiana became not a seller but a huge buyer of assets. We will buy $4 billion of additional public infrastructure to leave to future generations, all without a penny of new taxes or borrowing.Myth: We got benefits in the short term but give up money in the long term
Truth: What money? The Toll Road was losing money. The U.S DOT reported that “The ITR was an underperforming asset that consistently lost money – the ITR lost money in three of the last five years it was publicly operated and in 2005, the ITR lost $16 million.” Over the entire 50-year previous history of the Road, a total of $130 million was generated for other purposes. The Major Moves Trust Fund now receives more than that in interest alone.
Myth: The deal wasn’t fair to the seven Toll Road counties.
Truth: Major Moves brought a bonanza to the Toll Road counties. In cash and new projects, the counties received $ 11 for every dollar they got in the 50 years of political management. For Lake County, Major Moves provided more than 5 times as much as the previous 50-year total and for Porter County, Major Moves provided more than 15 times as much as the previous 50-year total. In addition, other proceeds are being used to subsidize passenger car tolls, keeping them where they were in 1985. Indiana Toll Road tolls are among the lowest of any toll road in America. Besides, two-thirds of all tolls are paid by out-of –state vehicles.
Myth: Indiana didn’t receive a good price.
Truth: Indiana got a great price. The $3.8billion payment has already made over two times more for the State in interest than the Toll Road invested in communities during its 50 year history. Indiana’s largest public accounting firm, Crowe Chizek of South Bend, analyzed the Toll Road financial statements and found the $3.8 B to be at least $2 billion more than what the State could possibly have generated on its own, through higher tolls and borrowing. Scholars and publications throughout the world have further validated that this was a great deal for Hoosiers.
Myth: If the contractor could make a profit, the state could have done just as well.
Truth: For 50 years of politicians running it, the Toll Road barely broke even, owing hundreds of millions in debt. How much proof did we need? Through Major Moves, the state has locked in and pocketed a certain profit, a huge one. Whether the contractor and its investors will ever get their money back or not will not be known for many years. So far they have reported a loss of more than $270 million dollars. The risk of lost dollars has been shifted from Hoosier taxpayers to the investors. And, if the investors ever do make a profit they will pay taxes to the state, unlike the previous government management.
Myth: After 10 years, the money will all be gone.
Truth: Gone? It will be invested in roads, rail and bridges, hard public assets that will improve life in Indiana and strengthen the Indiana economy for generations to come. Without Major Moves, Hoosiers in northern Indiana would have waited decades more for overdue roads like I-80, I-94, US 6, US 41, SR 2 and SR 49 while politicians mismanaged the Toll Road and continued making promises they had no way to pay for and no intention of ever keeping. Moreover, $500 million of the proceeds are in permanent trust for future generations.
Myth: Our tolls now go to “foreigners.”
Truth: The only people receiving funds from the Toll Road are the Hoosiers who work there, and those investors in the partnership who paid for the lease. The list of investors is led by American workers’ pension funds such as Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters, Midwest Operating Engineers, Painters Union of St. Louis, and Baylor University, as well as U.S. financial institutions like Northwestern Mutual Life on behalf of their depositors and shareholders.
Myth: There must have been some other way to accomplish all this.
Truth: Yes, there was. We could have tripled the gas tax. In the two years since the transaction, 32 states have actually raised their gas taxes, desperately trying to keep up with their infrastructure needs. Indiana hasn’t, and won’t have to. The only choices Indiana had were to simply forget about building the roads Hoosiers need and have been promised, drastically raise the price of gasoline that is already far too expensive, or find a new and creative answer.
And so we did. And that’s the truth.
Chris Matthews Bombs on ‘Jeopardy!’ After Repeatedly Mocking Palin for How She’d Do (video)
On at least four occasions, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews mocked Sarah Palin for how he felt she’d do if she were ever on the hit television game show Jeopardy!.
In a delicious example of instant karma, the self-proclaimed brainiac got his chance to show America how smart he was in a special “Power Players” version of the show Monday, but came up quite short finishing dead last with the paltry sum of only $2,300 (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):
Senate Unanimously Rejects Obama’s Budget Again
A budget resolution based on President Obama’s 2013 budget failed to get any votes in the Senate on Wednesday.
In a 99-0 vote, all of the senators present rejected the president’s blueprint.
It’s the second year in a row the Senate has voted down Obama’s budget.
Obama’s 2012 budget failed 97 to 0 last May after Obama himself last April said he wanted deeper deficit cuts.
The House earlier this year unanimously rejected Obama’s budget.
Read the rest HERE.
More on Obama’s secret deal with big pharma…
Three years ago, President Obama cut a secret deal with pharmaceutical company lobbyists to secure the industry’s support for his national health care law. Despite Obama’s promises during his campaign to run a transparent administration, the deal has been shrouded in mystery ever since. But internal emails obtained by House Republicans now provide evidence that a deal was struck and GOP investigators are promising to release more details in the coming weeks.
“What the hell?” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, who is now Obama’s campaign manager, complained to a lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) in January 15, 2010 email. “This wasn’t part of our deal.”
This reference to “our deal” came two months before the final passage of Obamacare in an email with the subject line, “FW: TAUZIN EMAIL.” At the time, Billy Tauzin was president and CEO of PhRMA.
The email was uncovered as part of investigation into Obama’s closed-door health care negotiations launched by the House Energy and Commerce committee’s oversight panel.
“In the coming weeks the Committee intends to show what the White House agreed to do as part of its deal with the pharmaceutical industry and how the full details of this agreement were kept from both the public and the House of Representatives,” the committee’s Republican members wrote in a memo today.
On June 20, 2009, Obama released a terse 296-word statement announcing a deal between pharmaceutical companies and the Senate that didn’t mention any involvement by the White House.
“The investigation has determined that the White House, primarily through Office of Health Reform Director Nancy Ann DeParle and Messina, with involvement from Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, was actively engaged in these negotiations while the role of Congress was limited,” the committee members wrote. “For example, three days before the June 20 statement, the head of PhRMA promised Messina, ‘we will deliver a final yes to you by morning.’ Meanwhile, Ms. DeParle all but confirmed that half of the Legislative Branch was shut out in an email to a PhRMA representative: ‘I think we should have included the House in the discussions, but maybe we never would have gotten anywhere if we had.’”
Read the full memo here.
Federal workers raking in millions in bonuses…
Related: 77,000 federal workers paid more than governors – LINK
A new in-depth database of federal worker salaries shows the government paid out a whopping $105 billion in salaries last year for most of its civilian workforce — to boot, the workers got $439 million in bonuses.
The information, which was obtained and number-crunched by The Asbury Park Press through a Freedom of Information Act request, challenges the old notion that government workers trade high salaries for job security and benefits.
In fact, many workers get all those things.
“They get better pay and they especially get better benefits,” said James Sherk, senior policy analyst with the conservative Heritage Foundation.
The database, which is now online, allows users to enter a federal worker’s name and their department, and then look up their salary information. The trove covers about 70 percent of federal workers, with some eye-opening results.
The average salary, for instance, for New Jersey’s federal employees was $83,749. Many senior executives throughout the federal government make a six-figure salary.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/16/federal-workers-raking-in-millions-in-bonuses-new-database-shows
Chomsky: Sarah Palin Right About Obama…..
“I don’t usually admire Sarah Palin,” Chomsky said, “but when she was making fun of this ‘hopey changey stuff,’ she was right, there was nothing there.”
Video Link
Bill Whittle: How to Steal Government Power (video)
This is a MUST see video.
Governor Chris Christie Dismantles President Obama’s “Leadership” at the RJC (video)
The record is what the record is……
Commencementgate: Colleges pick leftist commencement speakers 7-1
The liberal tilt of America’s top colleges and universities has gone off the charts with the ratio of liberal-to-conservative commencement speakers reaching 7-1, an all-time high, according to a new survey of graduation ceremonies at the top 100 schools.
“It was particularly awful this year,” said Ron Meyer of the Young America’s Foundation, which conducted the survey. “The ratio has never been this bad.”
According to the conservative youth group, of the top 100 universities in the latest U.S. News rankings, 71 featured liberal speakers while 10 hosted conservatives. And of the top 35 schools, only one asked a conservative to speak. Emory College, ranked 20th in the nation, had Obamacare foe Benjamin Carson give the commencement.
Sixteen Obama officials will speak, more than the total number of conservatives, and conservative journalists were shut out while 11 liberal and mainstream reporters, anchors and commentators were given the spotlight including Barbara Walters, Cokie Roberts, Katie Couric, Soledad O’Brien, Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams.
See their list here.
A previous YAF survey found that Bush administration officials spoke at the top 100 schools a total of 14 times, and he served eight years. In President Obama’s first three years, officials have spoken 29 times.
NBC: Stimulus Dollars Fund Crazed Sex Studies
You paid for it…..
NBC:
The NBC Investigative Unit has raised questions about two grants totaling nearly $1.5 million dollars distributed to the University of California San Francisco. The money was part of the federal stimulus program and went to studies into the erectile dysfunction of overweight middle aged men and the accurate reporting of someone’s sexual history.
This is part of our ongoing series of investigations by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit into who received federal stimulus dollars, and why some projects did not break ground more than two years after receiving the grant.
The Investigative Unit looked closely at the federal government’s decision to spend nearly $1.5 million dollars of taxpayer money, money that came to California. Grant number 1R01HD056950-01A2 was among the thousands of grants funded, receiving $1.2 million dollars. This grant studied how to improve the accuracy of how people responded to questions about their sexual history.
“If you honestly report on your sexual activity and number of partners?” Scott Amey with asked with a sigh. “That’s a good one.”
Sowell: The Pathology of Academics Who Constantly Get It Wrong (video)
Dr. Thomas Sowell
American intellectuals by and large said the USSR had a better system.
Intellectuals said that the USA should unilaterally disarm before Reagan won the Cold War.
British intellectuals called for English disarmament before WWII.
Leftist academics get the effect of tax policy wrong almost every time….etc.
Catholic university drops student health insurance, cites ObamaCare
And this is far from the only incident. So much for “you can keep your plan and your doctor”…
A Catholic university in Ohio said Tuesday it is being forced to end a student health insurance program over the Obama administration’s contraception mandate and costs associated with other provisions of the health care overhaul.
Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, said it has so far excluded contraceptive services and products from its health insurance policy for students and will not participate in a plan that “requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life.”
In its decision to drop coverage, the school cited the contraception mandate, but also a requirement that the maximum coverage amount be increased to $100,000 for policyholders — claiming that would have made premiums skyrocket. A university official told Fox News Radio the students’ basic $600 policy was going to double in cost in the fall and triple next year and that the school’s insurance provider said the increases were the result of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Armed “Environmental Officers” Shut Down Ice Cream Stand
OK is government out of control yet? In our budget conscious times is this what we really need to be paying for? Someone is voting for this kind of idiotic government. Make sure it isn’t you.
CARLISLE — Looking to hit the spot with a savory ice cream at Great Brook Farm State Park this week?
You may be out of luck.
The park’s popular ice-cream stand was unexpectedly shut down by state officials over the weekend, after the stand’s operator made building improvements at the site without getting permission first.
Mark Duffy, who has operated the dairy farm at the state-owned park for 26 years and has a lease with the state to run the stand, said armed Environmental Police officers showed up at stand on Friday evening and stood guard throughout the weekend, turning away customers craving delectable sundaes and frappes.
To make matters worse, said Duffy, the shutdown happened right before the sunny Mother’s Day weekend.
Edward Lambert, commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, said the stand was closed after it was discovered construction had been done without local or state permits. The work, which expanded the stand, included construction on a barn built in 1910 that is adjacent to the stand, he said.
Lambert said he is trying to protect the public’s health and safety while tests are conducted at the site.
“I like ice cream as much as anybody, so it pains us to even temporarily close what is an iconic property, but we have to make sure people eating ice cream there are safe,” said Lambert.
Duffy said he has made countless improvements to the farm over the years without permission.
“The reason I’m here and the purpose of having me here is to improve the facility and operate a commercial dairy farm,” said Duffy, 57, who lives on the farm with his wife. “I make improvements every single day and have for 26 years.”
Calls to George Mansfield, the administrator of the Carlisle Planning Board, were not returned regarding local permits.
Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_20635020/ice-cream-spot-hits-rocky-road
CNN: Obama Attacking Private Equity At 6am, Fundraising With Private Equity At 6pm (video)
Keep in mind that Anderson Cooper calls Republicans “teabaggers”….
The Weekly Standard has more details – LINK.
This reminds me of when Obama gave the speech at Google, who paid 2.4% federal tax on 3.1 billion in income, trashing the Chamber of Commerce who fought raising the tax on most small businesses from 35.5% to 39.9% .
RELATED:
Obama’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: Taxes on ‘Small Business’ Must Rise So Government Doesn’t ‘Shrink’ (video) – LINK
Wall St. Made More Money In 2.5 Years Of Obama Than 8 Years Of Bush – LINK
Obama: Largest Wall Street Money Recipient, Hands Out Jobs to Contributors – LINK
Under Obama: Family Income Down. Jobless Claims High. Government Spending Up. Super Rich Getting Richer. – LINK
GAO: Recoverable American oil in a single location equal to the entire world oil reserves…
Via the Ulsterman Report and CNS News:
According to testimony to Congress from Anu K. Mittal, director of the Government Accountability Office’s natural resources and environment office. According to Mittal’s testimony, the United States currently has domestic oil reserves that equal that of all other oil reserves in the world. Let that statement sink in. And also know that Director Mittal is referencing oil reserves for just one location – oil shale in the Green River Formation. She is not even including all the other oil producing regions within the United States. The newly discovered Green River Formation itself has enough potential reserves to equal those of the rest of known reserves throughout the entire world:
“The Green River Formation–an assemblage of over 1,000 feet of sedimentary rocks that lie beneath parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming–contains the world’s largest deposits of oil shale,”Anu K. Mittal, the GAO’s director of natural resources and environment said in written testimony submitted to the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
“USGS estimates that the Green River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil, and about half of this may be recoverable, depending on available technology and economic conditions,” Mittal testified.“The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, estimates that 30 to 60 percent of the oil shale in the Green River Formation can be recovered,” Mittal told the subcommittee. “At the midpoint of this estimate, almost half of the 3 trillion barrels of oil would be recoverable. This is an amount about equal to the entire world’s proven oil reserves.” – LINK with video
So much for Obama repeatedly saying that we only have 1 or 2% of what we use. He knows better.
Obama Buddy Gets $5.9 Million from the Department of HHS
Via PJ Media:
What are the odds that the president’s golfing buddy can secure a government grant? About 26 in 3000, or thereabouts.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded a $5.9 million grant to a University of Chicago Medical Center program run by one of President Barack Obama’s closest friends.
Obama’s longtime friend, Eric Whitaker, runs the Urban Health Initiative (UHI), which was founded as a means of connecting low-income patients with health clinics in their own communities.
The UHI was one of only 26 programs — out of 3,000 applications — to receive a slice of the $1 billion in taxpayer money from the executive’s “We Can’t Wait” initiative, which is aimed at spurring job growth via executive action, reported Keith Koffler at White House Dossier.
HHS has denied any White House involvement in the decision, but the president will have a tough time feigning surprise given his deep ties to the UHI:
- Eric Whitaker runs the UHI, has known the president since his days at Harvard Law and occasionally vacations with the Obamas.
- Michelle Obama launched the UHI while working as an executive at the University of Chicago Medical Center, which runs the program.
- Valerie Jarrett, the president’s senior adviser, was the chairman of the University of Chicago Medical Center board of trustees until she resigned her post to join the White House.
- David Axelrod, now-communications director for the Obama campaign, provided public relations services to the UHI after Michelle Obama recommended that he be hired in 2006.
Despite those deep ties, HHS stands by its process, describing the decision making as free from White House influence.
And they’ve got a bridge to sell ya too. More at White House Dossier.
Democrats Loot Detroit for Half a Billion, Elite Media Doesn’t Care…
Who does Kwame Kilpatrick remind you of?
Few readers will be surprised to learn that decades of incompetence and entrenched corruption in Detroit’s government have not only helped wreck the city; firms linked to former Democratic mayor Kwame Kilpatrick also looted the pension fund.
The latest scandal, which leaves even hardened observers of the abysmal Democratic machine that has run the city into the ground bemused, involves a real estate firm which gave the felonious mayor massages, golf outings, trips in chartered jets and other perks as this enemy of the people went about his hypocritical business of pretending to care about the poor while robbing them blind. The firm, apparently run by a sleazy low class crook named by the reprehensible Kilpatrick to be the Treasurer of what was left of Detroit’s finances, used Detroit pension funds to buy a couple of California strip malls. Title to the properties was never transferred to the pension funds, and they seem to be out $3.1 million.
Kilpatrick’s partner in slime is his ex-college frat brother Jeffrey Beasley, who is accused of taking bribes and kickbacks as he made bad investments that cost pension funds $84 million. Overall, a Detroit Free Press investigation estimates that corrupt and incompetent trustees appointed by Democratic officials over many years in Detroit are responsible for almost half a billion dollars in investments gone wrong.
I honestly don’t know why there is so little national outrage about this despicable crew and the terrible damage they have done. The ultimate victims of the crime are Detroit’s poor and the middle class and lower middle class, mostly African-American municipal workers who may face serious financial losses in old age.
~
American cities have been festering pits of graft and bad governance since at least the early 19th century, but there is a difference between the “honest graft” of Tammany Hall and the nihilistic destruction practiced by some of today’s urban machines. Today’s situation, in which some city machines are so dysfunctional that the parasite is literally killing the host (and not just in Detroit), is new and, again, the most vulnerable in our society suffer the worst consequences. Minority children are the greatest ultimate victims of this loathsome corruption: they attend horrible schools and grow up in decaying, unsafe urban landscapes where there is no growth, no jobs and no opportunity for the young.
How is it anything but racist not to care about that — and not to burn with the desire to put the scabrous thugs who misgovern our cities and waste our social funds in prison where they belong?
Read the rest HERE.
The Avengers Movie Review!
I just saw The Avengers!
Totally great film about people and relationships. Very good character development, solid story, great entertainment.
This film was made with great care and it showed. The film is not corny in the least. There are many ways that Marvel has gone about this and one of the ways is that the violence is not cartoon comic book. Both good guys and bad guys die in the film including scores of civilians. This is a part of what is a conscience decision by Marvel to show that violence has consequences; those consequences are real and not always reversible.
The character development is very good and sets up the chemistry and conflict between the characters, even so a little more development for some of the characters was in order and I hope that we will see it in the blue ray version. The characters have great attributes as well as great flaws. Captain America, whose real name is Captain Steve Rogers of the United States Army, having been asleep for over 60 years is not pleased with the cultural decline in society. For Steve Rogers World War II was just a few months ago. He killed a lot of Germans and watched them kill his friends. He lost the love of his life. Now he is in pain wondering what his sacrifice was for and if society is worthy of it. He is in a very dark place.
One thing I could not help notice more and more of in Stan Lee films, references praising Western Civilization and slapping the progressive secular left. Those of you who do not follow politics may not know, but the Clinton’s screwed Marvel creator Stan Lee out of millions of dollars. Stan Lee used to be a fund raising dedicated Democrat. After the multi-million dollar mugging Lee is now a genuine “Traditional Warrior”.
There were many references to Western Civ but there were a few that really stood out:
Agent Phil Coulson to Captain America: We updated your uniform.
Captain America: Isn’t the whole “red white and blue” thing a little outdated for your new modern society? (Remember Captain America was asleep for over 60 years and he makes several comments about what he thinks America has lost in the time he was asleep).
Agent Phil Coulson: With everything that has happened, and everything that is about to happen, we could use a little dose of traditional.
Interestingly enough, perhaps the film’s greatest hero is Agent Coulson (played by Clark Gregg) who is likely the greatest role model in the film. Here is Agent Coulson from a previous Marvel film:
Getting back to the culture war…
Captain America speaking to Agent Romanov in reference to Thor and Loki: There’s only one God, ma’am. And I’m pretty sure He doesn’t dress like that!
Tony Stark mocks Obama: I am the only REAL green energy project going on right now. (Without exception all significant green energy contacts and loans have gone to Democratic Party donors and campaign bundlers. Dozens have taken our money and promptly gone out of business but the donors have paid themselves incredible amounts of money and donated much before and after back to the party).
The debate on arms control with Nick Fury was superbly written. My description does not do this conversation justice as the debate is Nick Fury vs Thor, Captain America, and Dr. Banner all while Tony Stark is being a smart ass.
Thor: You are making weapons with The Tesseract. Why?
Fury: We had no choice. Thanks to you we learned that there are other worlds out there , other threats.
Thor: Surely Asgard is no threat to humanity!
Fury: Agreed, but Asgard isn’t the only “other world” out there is it?
Thor: Via mannerism begrudgingly agrees.
Fury: We have seen just a sample of what other worlds have and we are ridiculously… NO we are hilariously out gunned. Can you seriously expect SHIELD to do nothing?
At the end of the film after SHIELD and The Avengers stop the invasion a Democrat Senator from NY (ahem hello Hillary) blames the Avengers for the invasion and demands that they pay for the damage.
For those who like action The Avengers has that in spades. There were several references to previous films such as Lord of the Rings, Flash Gordon etc, but my favorite reference was to Droopy Dog. Many of you might not be old enough to remember what happens when someone gets pushy with Droopy Dog (hint: Replace Droopy with The Hulk and let your imagination run with it).
The acting was very good, especially from Mark Ruffalo who plays The Hulk. Any actor who can take something as fantastic as The Hulk and bring it right down to ground level and make it totally believable deserves an award. All of the actors made their roles believable, which is also a testimony to some fine writing and directing by Joss Whedon.
The only flaw in the film was the plot hole where Dr. Banner learns to embrace and control his anger thus learning to control the Hulk as best he can. It is Tony Stark that helps him take this new philosophical approach. This starts to happen in the film but they did not do enough of it to make it more obvious to explain how Hulk went from almost out of control on the carrier to in control at the invasion. The past of The Avengers’ two master assassins Natasha Romanova (Black Widow) and Clint Barton (Hawkeye) was just teased and it is implied that the two characters will get the attention they both deserve in Avengers II or the upcoming film Nick Fury, both are already in pre-production.
WOW! Legendary Tony Robbins Deconstructs and Destroys the Entire Obama Class Warfare Narrative in Short Film
This is simply devastating…..
Supreme Court Sides with Church 9-0 in Landmark First Amendment Ruling; Utterly Rejects Outrageous Govt Interference
The Obama Administration should listen loud and clear to this one, but will they? Not a chance….
The Becket Fund:
The Supreme Court decided its most important religious liberty case in twenty years,Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The government lost 9-nothing as the Court unanimously rejected its narrow view of religious liberty as “extreme,” “untenable” and “remarkable.”
The unanimous decision adopted the Becket Fund’s arguments, saying that religious groups should be free from government interference when they choose their leaders. The church, Hosanna-Tabor, was represented by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and Professor Douglas Laycock, University of Virginia Law School. For years, churches have relied on a “ministerial exception” which protects them from employment discrimination lawsuits by their ministers.
“The message of today’s opinion is clear: The government can’t tell a church who should be teaching its religious message,” said Luke Goodrich, Deputy National Litigation Director at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “This is a huge victory for religious freedom and a rebuke to the government, which was trying to regulate how churches select their ministers.”
The Court rejected the government’s extremely narrow understanding of the constitutional protection for religious liberty, stating: “We cannot accept the remarkable view that the Religion Clauses have nothing to say about a religious organization’s freedom to select its own ministers.”
“This is a huge win for religious liberty,” said Professor Doug Laycock. “The Court has unanimously confirmed the right of churches to select their own ministers and religious leaders.”
“It is amazing when a church from Redford, Michigan stands up for its rights and ends up going all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Reverend Paul Undlin of Hosanna Tabor. “Praise God for giving the Justices the wisdom to uphold the religious freedom enshrined in our Constitution!”
The Court found that the ministerial exception is rooted in both Religion Clauses—the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses. Justice Thomas filed a concurring opinion. Justice Alito joined by Justice Kagan also filed a concurring opinion.
“For six years I fought the government, sacrificing my practice and livelihood because I believed the government had no right to choose teachers for our small school,” says Deano Ware, local attorney for the church. “In the end, we showed up at the steps of the Supreme Court with our sling and stone, in the company of the Becket Fund and the greater community of faith, fought the government and won. This is a great day for all Americans of every of faith and all freedom-loving citizens.”
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a non-profit, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions. The Becket Fund has a 17-year history of defending religious liberty for people of all faiths. Its attorneys are recognized as experts in the field of church-state law.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with one of the attorneys, please contact Emily Hardman, Communications Director, at ehardman@becketfund.org or call 202.349.7224.
BUSTED: Speaker who thanked Obama for her health insurance at campaign rally gets insurance from a state program founded by Republicans
You just can’t make this stuff up folks.
HIP Programs are a Republican Party brainchild designed to help those normally uninsurable or at high risk to get affordable insurance. HIP programs provide incentives for healthy living and reward good shopping behavior that help keep costs down. As ObamaCare gets phased in many states will be forced to give up HIP programs.
A Des Moines woman who publicly thanked President Barack Obama on Tuesday for helping her obtain health insurance actually is receiving her coverage through a long-standing state program.
CeCe Ibson was asked to share her story as an introduction to a Michelle Obama speech Tuesday in Windsor Heights. She talked about losing her health insurance when she lost her job as a lawyer two years ago. She bought private coverage for her two children, she said, but could not find it for herself.
“No one would insure me because of my pre-existing conditions. No one. Until President Obama stood up for me and millions of Americans like me across Iowa and across the country,” she said.
In fact, Ibson’s current coverage is provided by HIP Iowa, a state program for people whose health problems make them ineligible for most commercial insurance. HIP Iowa was created in 1987, during Republican Terry Branstad’s first stint as governor. Most of the program’s subsidies come from fees paid by commercial insurers.
Oslo, Norway: 69% increase in rapes (76 rapes in 91 days). Share of Islamists among ‘attack-rapists’ 100%
Via Jihad Watch:
Jihad Watch has been reporting about the problem several times: “Western Muslims’ Racist Rape Spree“; “Islamic cleric misunderstands Islam, issues fatwa permitting jihadis to kidnap, imprison, and rape infidel women“; “Stavanger, Norway: Nine out of ten rapists are ‘men from minority groups’,” etc.
The jihad on “uncovered meat” has just begun. Norway distinguishes two kinds of rapes: rape and attack-rape. In rapes, the rapist and the victim know each other beforehand, while an attack-rape is when the two do not know each other before the rape. In Oslo, 100 percent of the attack-rapes are committed by non-Western immigrants with a “view of women” that makes them rape, according to the leading police officer, Hanne Kristin Rohde.
With 76 rapes during the first 91 days of 2012, the number of rapes in Oslo has increased by an alarming 69 percent compared to the same period last year. Translated from Norwegian by Nicolai Sennels, Aftenposten April 16: “Alarming rise in reported rapes in Oslo“:
Last year, the number of reported rapes in the Norwegian capital rose by 30 percent. 2012 has only gotten worse.- Overall, in the first quarter, there is an increase of 69 percent in reported rapes and attempted rapes. There are 27 more cases than in the same period last year.
Police Inspector Hanne Kristin Rohde does not like the stats she has extracted on sexual crimes in the Oslo police district.
– Very ugly numbers, she concludes.
– Is this a real increase, or are there others who choose to report rape?
– We do not know. But there has been a lot of talking about rape in the public, so we think that the increase is a result of people’s willingness to report rapes to the police.
During this year’s first 91 days, Oslo police have received reports on 76 rape cases, compared to 45 during the same period last year. The so called attack-rapes were included.
Denmark: Over 70% of young violent criminals are Islamists – LINK (Warning a tad lengthy but a scholarly piece worth reading).
Daily Caller: 8 Ways the Elite Media Doesn’t Understand Gun Owners
The Daily Caller:
There is a cavernous disconnect between liberal journalists (who don’t even recognize their own biases) and the plight of gun owners. Here are the top eight things anti-gun journalists don’t seem to understand about us.
1. ‘Shootings Are Caused by Guns’
One aspect of Lepore’s story revolves around a high school shooting. Both parents of the shooter have been in and out of jail for violent crimes, including
against each other. The mother is a volatile alcoholic. The father was convicted of kidnapping and assaulting another woman. Reminds you of your home, right?
Then one day their son steals his uncle’s gun, takes it to school and commits an atrocity. It’s a sad story. It would perhaps bring some resolution if a preventative measure could be found. Lepore tries to find a tenable link between gun owners and mass shootings, but her reasoning is dubious at best.
Journalists always want to point the finger at gun owners after such tragedies, as if there’s some way to legislate away the actions of a madman intent on mayhem without expunging the freedoms of law-abiding Americans. They ignore the failures of liberal social programs and instead want to create “
gun free zones,” forgetting that this is in fact where most mass shootings occur (even in highly firearm-restrictive European countries). And, perhaps most frustrating of all, they deny that an average armed citizen can halt a mass shooting. It’s happened, notably at a church in Colorado, a high school in Mississippi, at the Appalachian State law school and elsewhere.
2. That Is Not an AK-47
3. There Is No ‘Gun Show Loophole’If journalists want us to take them seriously, they should at least learn a little about the firearms they so irrationally fear. When we read about an “AK-47” used in a crime that turns out to have been a regular old bolt-action, or when journalists use such terms as “.12-caliber shotgun”, “automatic revolver” or “spray fire assault rifle,” he reveals his ignorance. He entirely discredits himself. And that’s one of the reasons why so many of us tend toward media skepticism even when it comes to non-gun issues.You can’t just single out a freedom you don’t like and call it a “loophole.” In the United States, we have the right to own firearms. We have the right to sell firearms. If I want to walk across the street and sell my 1911 to a neighbor right now, I have that freedom, as long as he’s legally able to buy a gun and I’m a legal seller. These same transactions occur at gun shows between private sellers. To require a background check between such individuals would essentially end all private transactions—and that is of course the goal of those who push such legislation. So please, journalists, quit griping about gun shows and we won’t touch your “Free Speech Loophole.”
4. The Collective Rights Argument Is Over
Lepore’s article once again drags out the old argument that, unlike every other freedom guaranteed under the Bill of Rights, the Founding Fathers intended the Second Amendment to be a collective right. Last time I checked, the Supreme Court looked into this issue and ruled that the U.S. Constitution guarantees an individual right to gun ownership. Can we move on?
5. We’re Winning Because Shooting Is Fun
Gun rights and pride in gun ownership hit a marked decline in the early to mid-1990’s, but since then things have changed. Gun owners have adjusted their strategy. We’re back on offense, and journalists don’t seem to understand what happened.
Personally, I believe we almost began apologizing for guns during the Clinton Administration. However, at some point we decided to get back to being honest: Shooting guns is an important freedom, we aren’t sorry about it and shooting them is good wholesome entertainment. That’s a message that resonates with the public, if not anti-gun journalists. The media establishment seems baffled by the Brady Campaign’s financial woes. And poll after poll that indicates growing support for gun ownership.
Namely we win because shooting is fun. If you take a rookie shooter to the range, their smile upon that first shot is practically blinding. Despite what they may have read about guns in the media, they just learned how much fun it is to send a round downrange. And there’s nothing a New York City journalist can do to convince them otherwise.
6. Gun Ownership Is Not Declining
Firearms and ammo manufacturers make up practically the only industry that’s actually doing well during this tough recession. Gun buyers are so active that Ruger had to quit taking orders for certain guns. We’ve set sales and NICS check records. And yet journalists buy into the strategy of anti-gunners to portray gun owners as a fringe group. A dying breed.
Lepore makes this argument in her New Yorker piece, but given that she did not cite the source of her information, I’m not sure how she drew that conclusion. Gun ownership is up and, perhaps not coincidentally, the violent crime rate is down.
7. Guns Save Lives
Lazy journalists love to drag out the old saying, “You’re more likely to shoot a family member than an intruder.” Find some new facts—that one’s been discredited. It counted illegally possessed guns and gang members right along with the legitimate homes. And it only took into account incidents in which shots were fired.
According to a study by Florida State criminologist Gary Kleck, guns are used in lawful self-defense 2.5 million times per year. However, most times the mere presence of a firearm is enough to frighten away the miscreant without shots being fired. Bad guy kicks the door down. Little old lady points a .22 at him. Bad guy runs away. The incident may not even be reported to police. You see, journalists, unlike the way you insist on portraying us, we don’t really want to shoot anybody. But, if we have to, we’d rather be prepared to protect ourselves than wait for the police and hope for the best.
8. The Brady Campaign Is Full of Lies
Note to the media: Quit citing hugely inflated Brady Campaign statistics to undermine our gun rights. The Brady Bunch is not some credible non-profit just out there seeking the truth, but an extreme anti-gun group with a complete willingness to lie to meet objectives. At the very least, please admit that the Brady’s anti-gun bias is as great as the NRA or NSSF’s pro-gun views. Instead, you act as if Sarah Brady preaches the gospel, then you bury a few facts from NRA deep in the story, hinting that they must be taken with a grain of salt, or you’ll ignore the pro-gun side altogether. That’s lazy journalism, and we notice.
Thanks to Kyle Wintersteen and Guns & Ammo for writing this article!
Gun carrying man ends stabbing spree at Salt Lake grocery store
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – A citizen with a gun stopped a knife wielding man as he began stabbing people Thursday evening at the downtown Salt Lake City Smith’s store.
Police say the suspect purchased a knife inside the store and then turned it into a weapon. Smith’s employee Dorothy Espinoza says, “He pulled it out and stood outside the Smiths in the foyer. And just started stabbing people and yelling you killed my people. You killed my people.”
Espinoza says, the knife wielding man seriously injured two people. “There is blood all over. One got stabbed in the stomach and got stabbed in the head and held his hands and got stabbed all over the arms.”
Then, before the suspect could find another victim – a citizen with a gun stopped the madness. “A guy pulled gun on him and told him to drop his weapon or he would shoot him. So, he dropped his weapon and the people from Smith’s grabbed him.”
Video HERE.
Obama spent over 2 months of the last 12 golfing or fundraising on your dime….
Our friend Emily Miller at the Washington Times:
The “big news” is that President Obama is not yet campaigning for re-election. Mr. Obama has been gallivanting around the country to read highly partisan speeches and host multimillion-dollar fundraisers, but his campaign manager announced Wednesday that the bid for a second term will “begin” on May 5.
This interesting fiction helps Mr. Obama avoid tapping his $1 billion war chest to pay for his recent stump speeches. Instead, he’s been letting taxpayers pick up the tab. Republicans cry foul.
Recent presidential orations leave little doubt that the campaign is in full swing. Audiences invited to his events chant things like, “We love you, Barack.” It’s so coordinated that in Iowa and Colorado, college students booed during speeches at the same cue line: “Last year, over 40 states cut their higher education spending.” The president responded by saying “Not good” both times. The words on Mr. Obama’s teleprompter have little to do with governance and everything to do with themes of class warfare.
House Speaker John A. Boehner on Thursday blasted Mr. Obama’s recent excursion to shore up the youth vote through student-loan subsidies. “For the president to make a campaign issue out of this and then to travel to three battleground states and go to three large college campuses on taxpayers’ money to try to make this a political issue is pathetic,” the Ohio Republican told reporters. “His campaign ought to be reimbursing the Treasury for the cost of this trip.”
On Wednesday, Republican National Committee (RNC) ChairmanReince Priebus raised serious legal questions. Mr. Priebus asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate whether government funds are being misused for the benefit of Obama for America. “He’s done more campaign events than his predecessor and set a new standard for raising money courtesy of the American taxpayer,” Mr. Priebus told The Washington Times.
The GOP leader added that despite White House Press Secretary Jay Carney’s assertion that the president spends 5 percent of his time on political activities, RNC staff calculated Mr. Obama has spent five full workweeks fundraising at taxpayer expense in the last 12 months. That’s in addition to puttering around for the equivalent of four weeks on the golf course by our calculation.
Read more HERE!
Political Arena 